News

Gloucestershire hopes cooked by former England captain

4 May 2017

A day of over 600 runs at Chelmsford, where a century by England opener Alistair Cook gave Gloucestershire too much to do as they were left to chase 316 to beat Essex at Chelmsford in the South group of the Royal London Cup.

Cook, importantly, was missed when on 67, and went on to make 127, and with good support from Browne, Chopra and Bopara, Essex were able to post 315 for 8 from their 50 overs.

The former Test captain also took two important catches to remove Gloucestershire's top two scorers as Phil Mustard (90) and Ian Cockbain (79) led a spirited response which kept them well in the match until the last seven overs. They finished on 286-8, giving Essex victory by 29 runs.

Listen to assistant coach Ian Harvey's post match thoughts here:

Gloucestershire made two changes to the side which had won at Lord's on Sunday, with Kieran Noema-Barnett replacing the unwell Graeme van Buuren, and Chris Liddle returning to the eleven in place of Craig Miles.

Head coach Richard Dawson said before the match that the straight boundaries at Chelmsford often yield a high volume of runs, and the home side certainly made good use of their local knowledge after Michael Klinger decided to field first when he won the toss.

Cook and Nick Browne - both left handers - soon saw the pitch had very little pace and between them they struck eight boundaries in the first phase powerplay, Browne driving down the ground off Norwell in particular.

They had a few scares, Browne nearly being run out by Jack Taylor and then Dent getting his fingertips to a Cook drive at extra cover, but their first wicket stand had reached 82 when Benny Howell broke it in his first over as Browne (42) clipped a ball straight to Klinger at mid wicket.

Westley went cheaply, caught behind by Mustard off Liddle, and for a while the two wicket takers put a brake on the scoring rate. Cook completed his half century from 65 balls with three boundaries, and his comfort at the crease allowed Chopra time to get going.

The key moment was probably shortly after half distance, when Cook pulled the returning Norwell to deep wicket. It was a fierce, flat shot but having got into position Jack Taylor spilled the chance and the ball dribbled over the rope. Not one to waste such an opportunity, the former England captain went on to complete his fifth List A century for Essex from 110 deliveries with nine fours in the 35th over.

Chopra was still with him at that stage, pulling Jack Taylor to mid wicket and threatening to accelerate the run rate when he ran himself out for 41 with poor judgement of a single to Dent at mid on.

Benny Howell's variation of pace was proving Gloucestershire's biggest asset so Bopara chose to attack Jack Taylor and Tom Smith instead, racing to 37 from only 23 balls before Matt Taylor took a well judged catch at deep square leg off Smith.

The closing seven overs saw a clatter of four more wickets, one of them being Cook who was eventually caught at extra cover by Noema-Barnett off Liddle for 127, made at almost a run a ball. Liddle's final spell also saw him account for Zaidi (6) and Wheater (13) to finish with 4-54, and Howell trapped ten Doeschate lbw for 17 but Essex had still added 58 runs to post a testing total.

For the third match in succession, Phil Mustard and Michael Klinger set out to create a solid base, and aided by some sharp fielding Essex contained them to 45 runs in the first ten overs. A double change saw Bopara and off spinner Harmer take the pace off the ball, and the South African was to take two important wickets in an eight over spell.

His switch from around the wicket to over the wicket brought reward as Klinger, having made 31, chopped a ball to Zaidi at backward point, and then Dent (2)mistimed an intended straight drive and was caught at long off by sub fielder Callum Taylor.

It left Gloucestershire at 80-2, although when Mustard was dropped by Westley at long off the Gloucestershire 'keeper was starting to open up. He admitted afterwards that his timing was very mixed but he still completed a 65 ball half century with a six and five fours, and with Ian Cockbain building his innings slowly, as he had in the win over Middlesex at Lord's the equation had become a similar one with 20 overs left.

30 runs from Harmer's final over and a loose one from ten Doeschate, in which both batsmen cleared the rope, put the game right in the balance but the return of opening bowler Matt Quinn broke a productive stand as Mustard, who had reached 90, saw Cook hold on to a chance at deep mid wicket.

Noema Barnett fell for a duck to the economical Bopara in the next over, which left Cockbain and Jack Taylor to raise the run rate. Cockbain's half century had only a six and two fours but it occupied just 51 deliveries, so when he added another maximum in the 42nd over, bowled by Wagner and Jack Taylor matched it, the equation was down to 75 runs from the last eight overs.

In the end, it proved too much. Jack Taylor (34) was caught at long off by Harmer off Quinn, and then Bopara, Essex's best bowler, saw Cook safely take another chance in the deep to account for the in-form Cockbain for 79. Thereafter, Essex were comfortable, but Gloucestershire had pushed them all way.

• Previous
• Next